Events

Jairam Ramesh, Former Indian Minister for Rural Development, Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School

The revival of rapid economic growth is an urgent imperative for India. At the same time, it is recognized that this growth must also be ecologically sustainable to both address domestic concerns and take into account the expectations of the international community. Energy choices will, to a very large extent, determine how successful India will be in this regard. Jairam Ramesh has, over the past three decades, been a key policy-maker at both an administrative and political level and his work has spanned all three areas of economy, energy, and the environment.

Jairam Ramesh is a 2014 Fall Fisher Family Fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a Member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh and a leader in international climate negotiations. He was chief negotiator for India at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has been a leading figure in international climate diplomacy for years. Mr. Ramesh also played a key leadership role at the Climate Change Summit in Cancun (2010) and at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (2009-2010). He held numerous high-level government posts, including Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development and Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests. He worked as an Advisor to the Finance Minister during 1996-98, to the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission during 1992-94, and to the Prime Minister in 1991. He has authored a number of government reports in area as diverse as energy, technology, capital goods, industrial policy, and telecom.